Schools

Two Re-3 School District employees recognized

Esther Cooley named employee of the month for January, Jenny Wright for December

By Jenni Grubbs

Times Staff Writer

Posted:
01/11/2018 06:03:20 PM MST

Re-3 Superintendent Ron Echols recognizes Esther Cooley as the school district employee of the month for January. Cooley is the program director at The Children's Center, which offers day-care and after-school programming inside Columbine Elementary School. (Jenni Grubbs / Fort Morgan Times)

Re-3 Superintendent Ron Echols recognizes Jenny Wright as the school district employee of the month for December. Wright, currently a sixth-grade math teacher at Fort Morgan Middle School, is in her 19th year as a teacher at the school district. (Jenni Grubbs / Fort Morgan Times)

Two Re-3 School District workers were recognized at Monday night's school board meeting as Re-3 Superintendent Ron Echols caught up with his employee of the of the month presentations.

January honors

First he called up Esther Cooley, the program director at The Children's Center.

Initially, Cooley had been told she needed to do a presentation to the school board about The Children's Center, which offers day-care and after-school programs during the school year and a summer day camp.

But Echols told her she was off the hook and instead she was getting the school district employee of the month honors.

The Children's Center is housed at Columbine Elementary School, and that building's principal, Nick Ng, was the one who nominated Cooley for the school district employee of the month.

"Esther Cooley is an unsung hero," Ng wrote. "She offers an amazing day-care service, (up to 100 kids per day), which requires a whole host of duties, requirements and regulations, all of which Esther takes care of by herself."

Ng said he sees Cooley each morning and that she is there usually until long after everyone else has left the building.

"She works many hours and always has a cheerful demeanor and is always willing to help out with the operations at Columbine, too," the principal wrote.

"It fills a great need in the community," Echols said of The Children's Center and the work Cooley does there, echoing Ng's comments.

Cooley seemed a bit overwhelmed by what they were saying about her and the program she runs.

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"Honestly, we are so blessed to be in this school district," she said. "There are people from the state that have come out to inspect us, and they were amazed that we weren't relegated to the gym or a corner of the cafeteria. ... We're st up better than we have ever been before."

Cooley also gave a bit of the presentation she had prepared after getting asked to come to the school board meeting.

"We're at peak levels not seen since 1996," she said of the enrollment at The Children's Center.

The Children's Center previously was housed at Sherman Early Childhood Center, but it got squeezed out of that building due to limited space. It moved to Columbine in 2014.

There currently are 90 children enrolled in the day-care and after-school programs offered there.

"Our license only allows 100," Cooley said.

She also pointed out that the program now was "the safest we've ever been" due to the security at Columbine. "We're a locked facility. You can't just come and go."

Cooley first started at The Children's Center in 1998, taking a break for a few years to stay home with her own children, and then returning to the center.

"There's levels of great that comes with being involved for so many years with an excellent program," she told the school board.

Cooley also got kudos from multiple school board members who had seen Cooley and The Children's Center in action with their own kids.

"You're the most organized person," school board member Connie Weingarten said. "I want you to help organize my house."

"My kids all attended it and loved it," school board member Trish McClain said.

"She has a great summer program, too," Echols added.

December honors

He then called up Jenny Wright, a sixth-grade math teacher at Fort Morgan Middle School. There was no surprise for her of why she was there, though.

Echols was recognizing Wright as the school district employee of the month for December.

She was nominated by Fort Morgan Middle School Principal Jason Frasco, as well as by other staff at the school.

"Jenny emanates everything you'd want in an educator," the principal wrote. "Jenny is the first to give of her time and resources to support a teacher in need, or a struggling student. She has an amazing ability to make a challenging profession look less overwhelming and more manageable."

Frasco also pointed to the leadership roles Wright takes on at the middle school, mentoring younger and more experienced teachers alike.

"To watch her instruct and manage a class of 25 sixth-graders is truly impressive," the principal wrote.

He also quoted another teacher in his nomination letter: "She really takes the time to build and nurture her relationships with both staff and students. Her classroom runs so smoothly and she really has some engaging and innovative ways to teach math."

Wright said she was in her 19th year of teaching in Re-3 School District, having spent 10 years at Baker Central School, then seven years at Columbine and now in her second year at the middle school.

"I grew up in Fort Morgan, got a job here and love it," Wright told the school board, adding that her father was an educator in the same school district for 30 years. "It's been a wonderful experience. I'm looking forward to finishing my career here."

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